THE COMEBACK

Twelve-year-old figure skater Maxine Chen is determined to make it to the Olympics someday, but first she has to get through the North Atlantic Regionals intermediate ladies competition and sixth grade.

Maxine doesn’t feel like an average Mirror Lake Middle School student. Not only is she training on the early mornings before school and afternoons afterward, but she’s also the only Chinese American face in a mostly White student body. With regionals just a few weeks away, things seems to be heating up everywhere she turns. Her best friend is drifting away, smitten with a boy who communicates with Maxine in microaggressions aimed at her race. So while she’s worrying about her eyelids, her homework is starting to pile up, and worst of all, a new—extremely talented—skater has moved to town and is training at her rink. Shen has created a wonderfully grounded character who navigates both middle school and the world of elite athletic competition with an authentic voice—foibles, insecurities, and all. And deftly woven around edge-of-your seat competition scenes are more mundane but significant issues: everyday racism, sportsmanship, burnout among young athletes, the value of true friendships, and the unfaltering love and support of family. Bonus: That Maxine’s figure-skating idols are all Asian (and that there are so many of them) reminds readers of how important representation is.

On-ice excitement and a fierce-but-vulnerable protagonist make this a winner.